Friday, June 16 2006 17:20 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Lucknow: Apparently with an eye on next year's Assembly elections in the state, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav today(June 16, 2006) announced hiking of the unemployment allowance from the existing Rs 500 per month to Rs 1,000 if voted back to power.

Addressing a massive crowd of unemployed youths, who had gathered at the sprawling Ambedkar Maidan here for receiving the cheques, Yadav lambasted the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre for refusing to lend a helping hand in the state government's scheme for paying unemployment allowance to the graduates and post-graduates, who had no jobs.

The Chief Minister said he had written two letters to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in this regard without any success.

"We will increase the unemployment allowance to Rs 1,000 per month if voted back to power in next elections and with resources permitting," he said.

"The Centre's attitude is really disappointing," the Chief Minister said adding that his government had fulfilled its promise made in its manifesto.

Fifty seven thousand cheques of Rs 1,000 (for two months) each have been prepared to be distributed among the youths at the function, according to Director Information Nitin Ramesh Gokarn.

The state government had implemented the scheme from this fiscal to give Rs 500 per month to the unemployed graduates of the state and the cheques to be distributed tomorrow would carry the allowance for two months- April and May, he said.

The chief minister alleged that political forces were 'uniting' against him in the state as well as the Centre but did not elaborate.

"Political forces have united against me in the state while they are in process of uniting at the Centre," he claimed adding that a conspiracy is being hatched against me by the Centre.

Yadav said that no discrimination had been made in implementing the scheme on the grounds of sex, caste or religion.

He said that his party would force other state governments to follow the example set up the Uttar Pradesh government.

"When we can give unemployment allowance why cant others," he asked.